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London opening

City sources predict FTSE 100 will open up 8 points


Stocks to Watch

AstraZeneca is to buy private biotech KuDOS Pharmaceuticals for $210m in cash to boost its ability to produce cancer treatments.

Online retailer ASOS says it shares will return from suspension today, adding that most of the damage from the Hemel Hempstead fire can be rectified within the next few weeks and that the business should be fully operational with effect from mid January 2006. Profits for the financial year ended March 2006 are likely to be in line with market expectations.

Aegis has acquired Roland Berger's Market Research businesses in Germany subject to regulatory approval. A cash consideration of €5.4m will be payable over five years. RBMR's revenues in 2004 were €11m.

Aim-listed Nautical Petroleum has raised £10m through a placing at 10.25p per share. In addition, the company is to issue 14,637,800 warrants to subscribe for new shares at 20p during the next four years.


In the Press

The European Commission's bitter feud with Microsoft escalated yesterday when the software giant was threatened with fines of up to €2m (£1.36m) a day for not fully complying with an antitrust ruling says the Times

The decision to raise the stakes against Microsoft reflects a determination within the Commission to use new powers granted to it last year to police the European Union's competition rules.

Jo Malins, the insider-dealing finance director of Cambrian Mining, was stripped of share option profits worth £69,000 yesterday as he clung on to his job, the Times writes.

The Cambrian board, while cancelling 70,000 options, defied regulators at the London Stock Exchange saying that it stood by Mr Malins.

Jim Hodkinson, who was ousted as chief executive of New Look for pinching a woman's bottom at a Christmas party, was appointed chairman of Wyevale Garden Centres yesterday.

The appointment of Hodkinson came after a shareholder meeting at which Laxey Partners, the rebel shareholder, succeeded in winning enough votes to remove David Williams, the incumbent chairman, and two other non-executive directors.

In a surprise move, the Government is to allow savers who opted out of the state second pension (S2P) - formerly known as Serps - to switch their funds into self-invested personal pensions (Sipps). Fidelity and New Star welcomed the about-turn yesterday, as did the Investment Management Association, says the Telegraph.


Newspaper Tips

What better Christmas present for 14,000 of BAE Systems' employees than the news that Saudi Arabia is to buy up to 72 Eurofighter Typhoons to modernise its air force?

It could turn into a very lucrative contract, worth between £8bn and £10bn with the indications that this will be a partnership with recurring revenues, rather than a one-off.

Even with earnings upgrades in the offing, BAE is still cheaper than its peers and appears to have the wind beneath its wings. Buy says the Times.

Ireland-based Independent Newspapers' statement yesterday bucked the gloomy trend of its rivals but the good news is largely factored into the share price. The stock trades at about 18 times 2005 earnings, well ahead of Trinity Mirror and Johnston Press at 11 times.

Given that these rival British businesses deliver higher margins, the premium appears a little generous. Investors should steer clear if Independent at current levels says the Times.

It is difficult to think of a more risky venture on the stock market than oil group White Nile. There is a commercial opening here because South Sudan has just emerged from a 20-year civil war with the central government in Khartoum.

From a geological perspective, White Nile's is a relatively low-risk, high-reward project, but the political risks are sky high.

The length of time it took to file yesterday's maiden results is also not encouraging. Avoid says the Independent.



US Close

Wall Street ended the day on a high thanks to the traditional year-end 'Santa Claus' rally while a drop in unemployment claims give the market a further boost.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 55 points at 10,889, the Standard & Poor's 500 Index climbed 5 points to 1,268, while the tech-laced Nasdaq Composite Index closed up 14 at 2,246.

The Labor Department reported better-than-expected first-time jobless claims; it fell 13,000 to 318,000 last week.

Consumer spending rose 0.3% in November, but allowing for a big drop in energy prices the underlying increase is 0.7%. Personal income also climbed 0.3%.

Micron Technology put pressure on the technology after it revealed first-quarter profit that slumped 60%.